


Full Moon Blues

by julisdreams



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec and Andrew have a vet clinic, Alec is a little bit paranoid, Alpha Wolf Magnus, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Werewolves, F/M, Human Alec, M/M, Magnus flirting attempts are NOT appreciated, Max Lightwood Lives, Veterinarian Alec, Werewolf Magnus Bane, slightly paranoid Alec, tags will be updated along with the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-10-10 02:56:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20520800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julisdreams/pseuds/julisdreams
Summary: Alec finishes up bandaging the wound. “I think we should take the trap with us. As evidence”, Izzy says. “Why can’t Jace be with us the one time that we need a cop?”“Good idea”, Alec agrees. He pats the wolf lightly. He seems to be waking up already, maybe Alec should have put more tranq liquid on the arrow. The wolf is panting and tries to lift its head. He looks around disoriented. Alec puts his stuff back into the backpack.A wet something touches Alec’s arm. The wolf is licking his hand. And he’s winking at him. Well, if he were human, then he would be winking at him. Alec shakes his head for a moment.Or: Alec and Izzy go on a hiking trip and find an injured wolf. Only that wolf is more than just that. And he seems to like the nice vet who patched him up a little bit more than is appropriate for a werewolf that should stay as far away from unknowing humans as possible. And that's just the beginning.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Full Moon Blues!  
If you like the story please leave a comment and a kudo. It really helps me as a writer to know what you think of the stuff that comes out of my brain and give me constructive feedback so that I know what I can do to write better ;)

„Izzy, slow down, will you?”, Alec screams after his sister. He’s thoroughly out of breath and she doesn’t even care. Shouldering his backpack – for the second time in as many minutes – Alec sighs and tries to keep up with Isabelle, his too fit and enthusiastic sister. Going on a hike had been Alec’s idea, but he hasn’t thought that Izzy would use that opportunity to show him how out of shape he is.

“Hurry up, will you? Otherwise, we won’t get to the waterfall until midday”, Izzy screams after him. At least she stops and waits for Alec to catch up with her this time. She’s ignored his requests for a break for half an hour now. “It’s your own damn fault that you are so slow, bro. Why did you bring all your work stuff with you? We’re on a hike, not a rescue mission.”

Alec stops next to her and uses his left arm to wash away the sweat from his face. He looks at her with a scowl on his face. “I didn’t bring _all_ my work stuff. It’s not even my _work_ stuff. Just the back-up equipment”, he corrects Izzy.

She looks at him sceptically. Her eyes travel his body up and down. “And why did you bring it? Expecting to find any wounded deer in need? Or another stray dog?” Laughing to herself, Isabelle shakes her head. Her brother’s always like that. He takes work way to serious and never leaves it at his vet clinic. And work never seems to leave him alone too. She wouldn’t even be surprised if they _do_ run into a wounded animal. They seem to appear out of thin air when Alec is near.

“You never know”, Alec grumbles. “I like to be prepared for all possibilities.” He would never admit it to his sister, but Alec thinks that _maybe_, only maybe though, he might have overpacked his backpack. But, on the other hand, you never know whether you need all the bandages and antiseptics and iodine that you have stored at your home. So, better be safe than sorry. That’s Alec’s motto in a lot of things.

“Well, then it’s your own damn fault if you can’t keep up with me”, Izzy sighs and continues the track. Alec and Izzy both like to go for a hike. It’s kind of a family tradition. Whenever something unnerving is happening in their life, they go out into nature. Normally their brothers Jace and Max accompany them whenever they decide to leave the small-town life of Idris behind them, but Jace’s in Norway with his girlfriend Clary and Max is occupied with a new computer game he bought at a store the week before.

Idris, a town with less than 10.000 inhabitants is in northern Minnesota, close to the Canadian border. The Lightwoods moved there after their parents went through an ugly divorce. Sometimes, Alec misses his old life in New York. He liked the anonymity of the big city. But he has to admit that Idris feels more like his home than the big apple ever did. It’s cosy, quiet and very rural. Perfect for someone like him who likes to stick to the same bunch of people and wants a peaceful, uneventful life.

But life never wants to be uneventful when Alec is concerned. First, their father Robert decides to show up in a few days – therefore the hiking trip – and now he can clearly hear something. Something that doesn’t belong in this quiet, charming environment.

“Izzy!”, Alec shouts after his sister. “Did you hear that?”

Isabelle sights. Her brother is a little bit… paranoid sometimes. She wants to tell him to _stop panicking so much_ when she also hears it. A low whimpering sound. It’s so quiet that she first can’t seem to figure out where it’s coming from. Slowly, she walks back to Alec who is also trying to find the source of the sound.

They’re both silent for a few seconds, then they hear it again. “Is that a…”, Izzy doesn’t finish her sentence. Alec is already moving after finally having figured out where the whimpering is coming from. Before she can lose sight on her brother, Izzy moves through the scrub behind him. Alec doesn’t care how many scratches he gets for finding his way through the wild like that. The only thing he cares about right now is the animal in need.

He stops two more times and waits until he hears the low, painful whine again. When he finally finds the animal, it’s not what he expected. “Izzy, it’s a wolf!”, he exclaims. He’s never seen a living wolf in the wilderness before.

“What? Oh wow!”, she says, trying to peek over her brother’s shoulder. Unfortunately, he is still nearly half a head taller than her. “Is he hurt?”

Alec bites his lower lip. A wild wolf is something different than a stray dog or even a hurt deer. He has to be extra careful about this. The wolf has finally realised that he’s not alone anymore. His upper lips are pulled back in a low, threatening growl. Not that he can really attack or hurt Alec or Izzy at the moment. Alec’s trained eyes look over the body of the wolf. His left front paw is caught in a trap. It’s stuck and even from five meters away Alec can see the blood that is partly dried around the fur and fresh blood that is pouring from the wound.

“He’s caught in a trap”, Alec tells Izzy. Slowly to not startle the wolf further, he takes his backpack off his shoulders and settles it next to his feet. “I’ll try to help it, you stay here.”

“Alec, that’s madness, you can’t just go there and touch that wolf. It’s a wild animal. What if it bites you? It could have all kinds of diseases”, Izzy says. As if the wolf understands what she said about it, his growl gets louder. Its fur is pitch-black, only his underbelly, paws and snout are chocolate brown.

Without missing a beat, Alec rummages through his backpack. It’s a good thing that he is a veterinarian and always prepared to help animals in need. He knows why he always packs his backpack full of vet equipment. “Don’t worry, I have a small tranq arrow with me”, he mumbles.

“Do I even want to know why you have that in your backpack?”, Izzy sighs. Honestly, she’s not even surprised that another injured animal has found its way to Alec. Or that Alec has found it. “Just be careful, okay?”

Alec doesn’t really listen to her. He’s too focussed on preparing the tranq arrow. Alec’s done this a few times already with particularly aggressive dogs. The wolf is watching him quietly, observing every single one of Alec’s moves. Finally, he’s ready. For a few seconds, Alec and the wolf look each other into the eyes, then Alec shoots the arrow. The wolf tries to leap out of the way, but due to the trap, he can’t move a lot. The arrow hits his fur and flesh. He yowls.

“Now we have to wait. Shouldn’t take him longer than a few minutes to fall asleep”, Alec says to Izzy. They wait together in silence. Alec takes a few things out of his backpack that he knows he will need. With one eye he observes how the wolf slowly falls asleep. He fights against it, Alec can see that. Methodically he puts on some gloves and stands up again.

“It’s a he?”, Izzy asks and helps Alec with all his stuff to get closer to the now stretched out wolf.

“Yes, it’s a male. Seems to be in a good condition, besides the trap of course.” He approaches the wolf carefully, but he’s knocked out. Alec starts examining the animal. “Strong teeth, good bone structure. No injuries besides the trap.” He grabs the trap with both hands and opens it slowly. It takes a few seconds, then the metal teeth are opening, and Alec can remove the trap.

He sets it aside. It looks like a small bear trap. Alec is trying to suppress the anger he feels bubbling in his veins. Whoever put that trap there needs to be found. They are in a protected landscape, hunting isn’t allowed here and setting up traps is a crime.

“Can you pass me the disinfectant?”, Alec mumbles. He’s glad that Izzy is working at a morgue. She knows her way around medical stuff even though she normally doesn’t use the same equipment that Alec needs. Her patients are already dead when they end up on her table after all.

She gives him a spray bottle of disinfectant and Alec puts a general amount of it on a gauze before cleaning the trap wound. Afterwards, he examines the torn flesh. “I think he wasn’t trapped for a long time, no mayor muscles are pulled. It’s only a flesh wound as far as I can tell”, Alec tells Izzy. “I think I’ll put a bandage over it. When we’re lucky our new friend here won’t bite it off as soon as he’s awake again.”

He finishes up bandaging the wound. “I think we should take the trap with us. As evidence”, Izzy says. “Why can’t Jace be with us the one time that we need a cop?”

“Good idea”, Alec agrees. He pats the wolf lightly. He seems to be waking up already, maybe Alec should have put more tranq liquid on the arrow. The wolf is panting and tries to lift its head. He looks around disoriented. Alec puts his stuff back into the backpack.

A wet something touches Alec’s arm. The wolf is licking his hand. And he’s _winking_ at him. Well, if he were human, then he would be winking at him. Alec shakes his head for a moment.

“Let’s go, let him wake up in peace. He should be okay in a few days. Maybe I’ll come back and see if I can find him again”, Alec mumbles. “I think we’ll go to the waterfall another day.” Izzy nods her head in agreement. She’s put the trap in her own backpack while Alec put his stuff into his.

Alec looks back a few times before he can’t see the wolf any longer. He hopes that he’ll make it. It’s a really beautiful animal.

~~~

They both don’t notice that they’re being followed.

~~~

The next morning Alec nearly pisses himself when he wants to leave his house to get to work. A dead bird lies on his front porch. Its neck is snapped.

It’s the first dead animal on Alec’s porch.

It won’t be the last.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you have blown my mind away! I never dreamed about all the amazing feedback that you've given me! Thank you so fucking much!!!  
And because I know how to say thank you in the best way possible I decided to post the new chapter early. Enjoy!

Alexander Gideon Lightwood is a rational person. He knows that Santa isn’t real and Bigfoot’s nothing more than a fairy tale of some conspiracy lovers. Obviously, he’s read all the Harry Potter books – who hasn’t? – and even some other witches’ stories. So he knows about blood rituals and sacrifices and that some cults use dead animals as an offering, but, he’s a _rational person_. Which means that none of these things are _real_, only some crazy dudes use them sometimes to pass the time in their otherwise boring lives.

But as far as Alec knows, none of these groups or cults are anywhere near Idris or even the part of Minnesota that he lives in. Therefore, the only logical answer to what is currently happening to him is maybe even more horrible than some satanic group.

“I’m not freaking out Jace, this is serious!”, Alec jells at his brother over the phone. Jace, the traitor, only sighs. Alec knows that he should have called Izzy instead, but after her disgruntled text messages from the day before he decided to try his luck with Jace.

“Man, Alec. Get a grip on yourself. Maybe it’s just another bird flu that kills those things and they crash land on your porch”, Jace mumbles, clearly distracted by something. Clary, most possibly. Alec doesn’t like the redhead _that_ much. She’s rather loud and always comes in the package deal of her annoying friend Simon who is into all those scifi-series. Well, maybe calling Simon would have been a good idea after all. But, on the other hand, Alec doesn’t want the nerd to show up on his doorstep with his ghost buster equipment again.

The first time it happened had been embarrassing enough. Alec had complained about strange noises and flickering of his lightbulb in the living room on a night out and the next day Simon Lewis arrived with a remodelled vacuum cleaner and an aluminium bowl on his head, ready to _flush out the ghost_. Only for them to find out that it was a mouse that had gotten trapped in the house and started to nibble on some cables.

Trying to stay patient, Alec scratches his neck while answering his brother. “Flu? Since when does that snap a bird’s neck? I took one to the clinic with me yesterday. There were teeth marks on it. Do you hear me, Jace? _Teeth marks_”, Alec emphasises. “Someone is sending me a message, I tell you. I just don’t know what I did. Why would they want to _kill_ me? Or do you think they want to kidnap me instead?”

Alec knows what he’s talking about. After all, not only has he read Harry Potter but several thrillers as well. Among one of them was _The Chemistry Of Death_ by Simon Beckett. The killer in that book had used dead animals to mark his future victims. And only this morning Alec has found the third dead bird on his front porch. In three consecutive days.

Something is going on, he just doesn’t know what. And his siblings are definitely _not_ helping. “Just, try to relax. Are those teeth marks from a human or an animal?”, Jace asks.

The oldest Lightwood looks out of his kitchen window, pushing away the curtains. “Not human, luckily. Seems to be a dog”, Alec mumbles. He just knows what Jace will say now. And of course, Jace chuckles and Alec hears him taking a deep breath on the other side of the line.

“See, just some stray. Maybe it’s one of the street dogs you’ve treated, and those birds are some kind of thank-you gift. Isn’t that something that cats do?”, Jace asks and Alec wants to face-palm. His brother has absolutely no idea about any kind of animal. It’s a blessing that he doesn’t have to work with them.

“When a cat brings you a mouse – dead or alive – it’s kind of her way to tell you that you’re too dumb to hunt”, he sighs. “Just, enjoy your trip, say hi to Clary from me and do that research about bear traps, okay? Izzy sent you the pictures, right?” After their hiking trip four days ago, Alec and Izzy had debated on what to do about the trap that they had found.

Jace mumbles something that his brother can’t understand, then he speaks clearer. “Yes, she did. I already sent them to Luke, he will do some rounds through the forests during the next few days and ask some military shops in the area. They sometimes sell those things. And now chill, you’re just hyped because of the family dinner with Robert.”

Clenching his teeth, Alec tries not to swear at Jace. Sometimes he thinks that his brother knows him too well. Alec _is_ stressing himself because of that damn dinner. Their parents have been divorced for several years now and normally they only hear from Robert on birthdays or holidays. He hasn’t bothered to show up in Idris at all. But now he’s coming and Alec doesn’t really know why, he can only think of the last time that he saw his father right after their mother and he had signed the final divorce papers.

He hadn’t even looked at Alec once. Not since Alec had come out to his entire family. He’d known that his dad wasn’t the biggest supporter of homosexual people, but actually seeing and feeling it, how he treats Alec after he told him he was gay is… a whole other number. It’s easy to say that he’s not thrilled to see his biological father.

Alec nods to himself and decided to ignore Jace’s words about Robert and concentrate on the trap-situation. “Good, thanks, Jace. Hear from you soon!”, he says and ends the call. He’s a little bit late for work, so he hurries out of the front door, locks it and walks to his car. Today’s dead bird is already taken care of. After taking several pictures as evidence – better be safe than sorry – Alec took it and disposed of it in the forest surrounding his house.

Living alone in his own house is something that Alec had to get used to, but now he likes it a lot. No one is messing with his neatly organised bookshelves or complains about his mostly blank walls and more practical than stylish furniture. Izzy wants to remodel the whole house, but Alec doesn’t let her. He likes the mood of it as it is.

Breathing in the fresh spring air, Alec starts the engine of his car. It stutters for a second, but then his old Ford pushes forward. An audio book starts playing and Alec relaxes. Forgotten are the dead birds, the teeth marks and possible serial killers.

~~~

Working at his own vet clinic that Alec started with one of his best friends is the highlight of Alec’s day. It doesn’t matter in what mood he’s in or what emergency is coming in, Alec is always on top of his game when he’s working with his patients. To be honest, he’s way better with his patients than with their owners. At least Andrew Underhill, his partner at the clinic, knows that and they have a system of channelling the more talkative people to his office and the quieter ones to Alec’s.

Andrew and he have known each other since Alec’s family moved to Idris. He’s an Idris-original, as Max calls all the people that’re born in Idris, but Andrew and Alec studied together for a year and finished their doctor thesis’ around the same time. They often met at a little coffee store to write their respective dissertations and fantasied about starting their own vet clinic. It kind of developed from there on that they had the idea to open one together and now here they are.

The clinic is in a modern two-story building. They have a huge backyard where they sometimes put wild-living animals that need to be treated for a broken leg or when someone finds an orphaned fawn. It’s only a ten minutes drive away from Alec’s house. The houses in Idris aren’t that close to each other besides in the city centre. Alec can’t even see his closest neighbour when he stands in front of his house.

It doesn’t bother him, no, he likes that it’s so quiet around and it’s not that he’s lonely or something. Izzy lives with their mum and Max at the moment though she has her own flat on the second floor of the house. Clary and Jace just live two houses away from Alec and their friends aren’t that far away either.

After another rather uneventful day at work, Alec heads out of the clinic and starts driving to Alicante, Idris’ neighbouring town to give Izzy a ride. Her car has broken down last week and she has to take the bus to get to work at the morgue at the hospital. She hates it, but she also doesn’t want to use a rental car until her car has been repaired.

Due to the family dinner with Robert today Alec has offered her to give her a ride back home after he’s finished work. Of course, his sister was delighted. He spends the drive thinking about the inventorying he and Andrew talked about during their break with one of their assistants.

Izzy is already waiting outside of the hospital when Alec drives up to the employee entrance. He doesn’t know how she can always look so fresh and enthusiastic after a whole day of exhausting work. “Hey sis, how’s your day?”, he says as a greeting and hugs her with one arm. She closes the door after throwing her bag on the back seats.

“Great, it was great. We have a new intern and I showed him our latest guest and he fainted before I could even push back the covers, can you believe that?”, Izzy says. She’s always animating everything she says with her hands when she’s excited. She also always revered to the dead people on her table as _guests_. Alec doesn’t know why, she never tells him, but he thinks it’s kind of an insider joke of her and her colleagues.

“Sounds… interesting”, Alec answers, not quite sure what to say. “Maybe he should rethink his career choice, or does that happen all the time?” He drives away from the hospital and heads back to the road that will bring them to Idris.

Izzy laughs. “Yeah, it happens sometimes, but normally only after I push back the covers and not before. Doctor Penhallow took care of him afterwards, so I think he’ll be fine”, she says. Stretch as far as possible in the car, Izzy yawns and relaxes back into her seat. “So, are you ready for Robert?”, she wants to know.

Alec’s fingers drum on the steering wheel. “I… Yeah, I think so. But I’ll be glad when he’s gone again.” He really doesn’t want to see his father. Alec still feels hollow when he thinks about him, how Robert makes him feel. They haven’t had a face to face conversation in ages and without Jace, as a buffer between the both of them, the evening can only get horrible.

Izzy always does her best when Robert calls or there is a letter form him in the post box, but sometimes Alec still needs Jace there as well. Max doesn’t really get it why his big brother and their father don’t talk to each other anymore. He’s too young when all of it happened to really understand it.

They chat during the whole drive and Alec feels the tight knot in his shoulders loosening. It’ll be fine. He’s not alone, his family is with him.

~~~

When they arrive at Marys’ house, there is a silver BMW in the driveway that can only belong to Robert. Alec bites his lip then he parks on the sidewalk. “Here we go”, he mumbles. Izzy presses his right hand for a second, then they leave the car and walk to the front door.

Izzy opens it with her key and they walk inside. Alec hears several voices from the living room. He takes off his shoes and jacket before following Izzy. She walks in before him, but he can still hear her surprised intake of breath. Alec takes another step then he sees what caught Izzy’s attention. There’s a woman standing next to Robert.

Alec doesn’t know her, but with the way Robert’s arm is wrapped around her waist, he doesn’t have to guess who she might be. He feels his blood pumping through his veins. Robert seriously brought his girlfriend to their family dinner without even telling them she would be there, hell, even that she existed!?

He feels his sister grabbing his left arm. It grounds Alec. Fortunately. He doesn’t want to cause a scene here after all. “Hello”, Izzy says to announce their arrival. Everyone looks at them now and Alec wants to hide behind her. He never likes to be in the middle of everyone’s attention. It doesn’t really work though. Why is Izzy so small again?

Maryse seems to relax a little bit when she sees them. Alec thinks that she looks relieved. Robert apparently hasn’t even told her that he would bring a plus one. Max stands next to their mother, worrying his lower lip. He doesn’t look too happy either.

Robert smiles when he sees Izzy and walks towards her and hugs her. They always had a good relationship with each other. It takes Izzy a second to reciprocate the hug though. “Dad”, she says after a while and they separate from each other again. He smiles at her and completely ignores Alec in the process. It’s nothing new.

“Hey”, he mumbles and pushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in ages!” Alec wants to snort. Of course, he hasn’t seen her in a long time. Guess who’s fault that is? Maryse is at his side in an instant and pulls Alec with her towards the kitchen.

“We’ll get the food. And… An extra set of cutleries and a plate”, she says after a look at Robert’s company. They walk into the kitchen and Alec closes the door behind them. He falls against it a second later, his head bangs against the wood, eyes closed. “Alec? Alec!”, his mother mumbles.

“What is he thinking?”, Alec says. “Is he thinking at all?”

Maryse looks away for a second. He knows that she’s also uncomfortable because of the situation in the living room. Her shoulders lift for a second as if to say _what can I say, that’s who he is_, but Alec puts his hands on her shoulders mid-motion to stop her. “Let’s just get this over with, okay?”, he says and Maryse nods.

They get the food and cutleries and head back into the living room. Alec puts everything down and sits in his seat next to Max. He uses the time for everyone else to settle to look at the woman that Robert has brought over for the first time. She’s young, maybe only a few years older than him. Alec’s not surprised. He knows his father’s tastes after all.

Her name is Linda, he finds out not a minute later when she introduces herself. And she’s Roberts _fiancé._ Alec feels like someone punched him in the gut. He can’t even comprehend how his mother must be feeling right now.

“And, why are you here?”, Alec dares to ask after the first round of small talk is over. It’s silent for a few moments, then Robert clears his throat. Alec has had enough of the bullshit, he wants to know what made his father think that it’s okay to show up on their doorstep nearly nine years after the divorce and act as nothing mayor has happened.

Robert puts his cutlery down before he answers him. He still doesn’t look at Alec. “I wanted to see all of you, of course. It really has been a long time”, he answers. “But there is also another reason why Linda and I are here today.”

_‘Aha, here we go’_, Alec thinks and stops chewing, waiting for Robert to continue.

“My firm is thinking about expanding in this area and I was chosen to work with the city officials to make sure that our project can start as soon as possible. My colleagues, Valentine Morgenstern, Hodge Starkweather and I, will be in Idris for a few weeks. I thought it’s a good idea to tell you about that in person”, Robert says.

Alec’s mouth is dry. Robert here, for several _weeks_!? He feels like a bomb has just been dropped on him. And not in a good way. In a very, very bad way.

Izzy tries to smile, but even her facial muscles won’t cooperate. “And what kind of project is that?”, she asks, trying to sound polite, but her words come out slightly forced. Robert doesn’t seem to notice, though. He grins brightly and sits up straighter.

“We want to build a ski resort and an accompanying hotel and leisure complex on Mount Edom”, he says and sounds excited. Alec wants to vomit. He knows Mount Edom. Izzy and he have been hiking there four days ago.

“But that’s part of the protected landscape here. You can’t build a ski resort there or some _hotels_!”, Alec says with more bite than he maybe should have used, but he’s furious. “There are many endangered animals living there. Just a few days ago Izzy and I saw a wolf, Robert. You won’t get permission from city hall to do your _project!_”

Robert just smiles in his general direction. “Well, we’ll see about that. The project would be wonderful for this area. Especially economically speaking of course. You could use the tourists and the money they will bring into this… _city_. After all, not a lot is happening here”, he says.

Alec grabs the side of his chair. His knuckles turn white, but he doesn’t care. How dare Robert think that money is everything that counts in this world! Mount Edom is a unique living environment for so many species, not only animals but plants as well. A fucking ski resort would be _horrendous_ for the region.

He doesn’t really listen to anything else that is said afterwards. Alec is fuming, his insides feel like a Vulcan that is seconds away from spilling its lava. He needs to get out of here, as soon as possible. Fortunately, after Robert’s confession dinner seems to be over in lightning speed. Alec barely registers the front door closing behind Robert and Linda before he’s out of his seat and stomping through the living room.

Izzy comes back after seeing them out and when she sees Alec she only sighs and falls down on the couch. “What a mess”, she mumbles and Alec couldn’t agree more.

“We have to do something!”, he bites out. “They can’t do that, it’s not right and also not allowed.” He stops for a second from pacing, then Alec grabs the back of a chair and leans against it.

Maryse’s brows are furrowed. “I’m not so sure about that. With President Trump denouncing natural resorts here and there and his announcement to clear forests in Alaska, who knows, maybe they can just build a hotel and ski resort around Mount Edom. I’ll look into it first thing tomorrow though”, she promises and Alec’s never been more grateful for his mother and her position on the city council.

“Thank you, mum”, Alec mumbles. He stands up tall and decides to leave. It’s been a long and eventful day. “I’m heading home, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” He kisses his mother’s cheek and hugs Izzy. Max doesn’t look excited when he sees Alec getting closer to him.

“Eh, no. No kisses, no hugs! I’m 14 now, we don’t _do _hugs anymore”, he states and crosses his arms. _‘Puberty’_, Alec thinks and ruffles the hair of his younger brother. Max squeals and pushes him away, but Alec continues to laugh.

~~~

The drive home is uneventful. Alec feels tired, but more in a physical way. All the stress about the dinner with Robert and his announcement is creeping up on him. He yawns when he steps out of his car and heads into his house. All the lights are out of course and Alec doesn’t bother to turn them on. He sees enough thanks to the moon light that is illuminating the kitchen when he heads into it.

He opens the fridge and takes a bottle of water out. His eyes burn a little bit from the bright light of the fridge so he closes it as fast as he can. Opening the lid of the bottle, he walks towards the living room. It has huge windows that open to a terrace that is nearly on the ground level. A few bushes separate the terrace from the lawn that stretches towards the tree line that begins less than 100 meters away from the house.

Alec takes small sips from the bottle and closes his eyes for a few seconds. He breathes in deeply, waits for three seconds then he pushes the air out again. He repeats the motion four times more. When he opens his eyes again, Alec freezes.

Two shiny eyes stare at him from out of one of the bushes. Alec blinks and hopes that he’s just imagining things, but the eyes are still staring at him when he opens his eyes. He can see the moon light reflecting in the irises.

Scrambling, Alec tries to run back to the kitchen to get a knife or _something _to protect himself. The water bottle flies out of his hand and crashes on the floor. He doesn’t care, all he thinks about right now is that Alec _was_ right. Someone is after him. A, a serial killer or a kidnapper or whoever, but Alec was _right_!

He grabs the first thing that he sees and stumbles back to the living room. When he scans the terrace and surrounding area, he doesn’t see a single thing that shouldn’t be there.

The eyes are gone.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec gets even more paranoid and some strangers make an appearance.

“So, let me see what we’ve got here. What do you say about a Glock 26? It’s a subcompact designed gun for concealed carry. If you worry that you’re being followed then you won’t want them to know immediately that you’re carrying a gun, right?”, the weapon shop owner, Chuck as his name tag says, explains to Alec. He offers him a gun, apparently the Glock 26 he’s been talking about. Alec takes it and weights the gun in his hands.

It feels cold, lifeless. “It has a capacity of ten rounds in the magazine”, Chuck adds. Frowning, Alec gives the gun back. It just… doesn’t feel right. None of the guns that he’s seen so far do. Alec’s not really surprised by that. He hates guns with a passion. As a veterinarian, he’s seen enough gunshot wounds on animals. Sometimes caused by careless owners or just people who think it’s funny to hurt another living being.

Normally, Alec would never even consider buying himself a gun, but after last night he’s kind of desperate. After sprinting back to the living room from the kitchen the eyes had been gone, but Alec had been so pumped up with adrenalin that he just stood there shaking all over. Unable to let go of the damn can opener that he’d grabbed in his haste of defending himself from the kidnapper slash serial killer.

Sleep didn’t find him at all that night. He’d been lying wide awake in the guest bedroom, this time an old baseball bat in his hands. With every creaking sound, Alec had been ready to jump out of the bed. He’d even called Izzy, but she’d just sighed at him, telling him to finally get a grip on himself and stop watching so many movies.

The next morning Alec went to the police station. If someone will take him seriously, then that person would be Luke. He’d arrived as soon as he knew that his family friend and Jace’s boss would be at the station. Apparently, Jace or Izzy must have warned Luke about Alec and his story of a kidnapper slash serial killer.

He’d nodded his head at the appropriate points, hummed a few times and when Alec told him about the eyes he’d seen Luke even sat up a little bit straighter. In the end, it didn’t matter. “I know that you’re concerned, Alec. But that’s a little bit unrealistic, don’t you agree? You yourself told me that the dead birds clearly have been killed by an animal. Where would a person even get dead birds like that?”, Luke asked him.

“Maybe at an animal park or zoo, who knows? Fact is that there is someone outside my house every night and I’m worried, okay?”, Alec said and finally, Luke had looked a little bit more understanding.

“Fine. I’ll send a patrol to your house tonight, let the guys have a look around and see if they can find someone or something suspicious”, Luke agreed.

Alec is glad that Luke will send some officers over, but still, he wants to be prepared. Just in case something goes wrong or that evil person shows up when the police aren't there. He’s not sure about a gun though. They just don’t feel right and Alec never wants to have a gun. Maybe… something else though.

“Do you also sell bows and arrows?”, Alec asks Chuck. When he was younger his parents sent Alec to archery practice. He should be a little bit out of shape by now, but nothing that a little training in his back yard can’t fix.

Chuck nods. “Sure do, Sir. Right this way.” He leads Alec towards a different aisle. Several bows are on display. Sports bows, ultralight bows and hunting bows. They’re beautiful, all of them. Alec takes one of them into his hands and sighs internally. That feels right. Even though the bow isn’t made of wood but cool carbon it doesn’t feel as dead as the guns did.

He listens to Chuck telling him the pros and cons of every bow and makes a list in his head. He already has his eyes set on one bow, but he still wants to hear what Chuck has to say about every single one of them. After the guy has finished, Alec stares at the bows for a minute, then he picks up the one that caught his eyes. It’s a beautiful recurve bow in black with a matt finish.

Carefully he tests the bowstring and brings it up to his nose and cheek into shooting position. “I see, you know your way around them, don’t you? Good choice, that one. I have the fitting arrows here as well and a shooting range for testing if you would like to take a shot or two”, Chuck tells him.

“I would love to, but only a few shots. My lunch break ends in fifteen minutes”, Alec says, and Chuck leads him to the shooting range. After aiming and shooting four arrows, Alec knows that’s the one. “I’ll take it and a quiver full of arrows”, he tells Chuck.

He leaves the shop several minutes later. Chuck will get his purchase ready and finalise the paperwork and Alec can sign the check and take his bow with him after he’s done at the clinic for the day. Already, Alec’s in a way better mood than when he woke up this morning.

The feeling doesn’t last long though. On his walk back to the clinic Alec has the feeling that someone is watching him. A cold shiver runs down his neck. He tries to suppress it, but to no avail. Taking up speed, he tries to simply walk faster. As he nearly runs through the Herondale Park Alec sees two strange figures next to the little pond that’s in the middle of the green area.

It’s a man and a woman. First Alec doesn’t know what he thinks is so strange about them until he watches a few other people that stroll through the park. The pair just stands at the pond, staring into his direction. They don’t feed the ducks or even realise their surroundings. They just stand and stare. And their clothes are… off. Like they are from the last century.

Alec shakes his head and simply walks faster. He’s nearly at the clinic. He fishes out his mobile though and calls Izzy. “There are strange people in the park, and they stare at me!”, he whisper-shouts at her as soon as she picks up.

“Jez, Alec! Get a grip on yourself. You’re really getting paranoid as hell over this dead animal thing”, she tells him. “Just get back to work and when you get back home take a long hot bath and try to relax, ok? Ever thought about that maybe you just work too much and your mind’s been playing tricks with you?”

Alec grumbles something incomprehensible and ends the call. Maybe he really should try calling Simon next time. At least the nerd will listen to him. He looks over his shoulder one last time and is more than relieved that the two strangers aren’t following him. Alec scurries back into the clinic and prepares for his next client.

Maggie, one of their assistants comes into the room and gives Alec a sheet with information about the next patient. “The guy’s a little bit funny. Very grumpy, barely speaks a word. He’s got an injured squirrel with him. Said he’s found it in the park”, she tells Alec. Immediately he’s reminded of the strange couple next to the pond.

Alec tries to do what Izzy told him and takes a deep breath to relax. “Okay, send him in please”, he says to Maggie and locates the closest scalpel on one of his tables. Just to be sure. Maybe the guy plans something…

When the door opens again, Alec relaxes a little bit. It’s not the guy from the pond. Although, this specimen also looks a little… off, somehow. He’s wearing black clothes and only black. Alec’s no fashion expert but even he can see that everything is obviously very new and very expensive.

“Hello, my name is doctor Lightwood”, Alec introduces himself. “You’ve got an injured squirrel, I’ve heard?”

The guy nods once, then he thrusts the squirming squirrel into Alec’s hands. “Raphael”, he grumbles and okay, now Alec knows what Maggie meant. Not a talker, as it seems. Raphael’s suit jacket is a little bit dirty from where he’s pressed the squirrel to his body, but he doesn’t seem to care about it. Izzy would have flipped out already.

Alec shakes his head a little bit, then he concentrates on the hurt animal in his hands. “Let’s see what I can do for you”, he mumbles and starts the examination. He feels Raphael’s eyes on him and when he looks up, Alec can see how the guy is observing him as if he’s a puzzle that he wants to solve.

He tries to ignore it in favour of helping the squirrel. “So, you help injured animals?”, Raphael askes after a few seconds of silence. He went from watching Alec to following every move of the vet’s hands with his eyes.

“Yes, that’s my job”, Alec answers, slightly distracted by holding the squirrel and examining it at the same time.

“And you do that without an ulterior motive?”, the guy digs deeper. Now Alec does look up from his patient and looks Raphael over again. He changes his earlier assessment. Yes, the clothes are both new and expensive, but they don’t seem to be in the right size for this man. The suit jacket is at least a size too big and the light pullover that he’s wearing underneath is stretching in several places.

Alec squints his eyes. “No, I do not have an ulterior motive unless you count wanting my patients to get better as one. I like helping others and that includes animals. They deserve the same care as we humans do”, he says passionately.

Raphael seems to like his answer. Nevertheless, he continues his questioning while Alec treats the squirrel. The questions are… odd, but Alec answers them truthfully. It doesn’t take him longer than then minutes to treat the squirrel though and he’s not even sad that he has to say good-bye to Raphael. “It only has a contusion on its hip, maybe someone grabbed it a little harshly. If you want you can take it back outside to the park to set it free or we’ll do it”, Alec says.

“I’ll take it”, Raphael tells him and grabs the squirrel. When it starts squirming again, Raphael simply _growls_ for less than two seconds and the squirrel doesn’t move. Alec’s eyebrows are somewhere in his hairline by now. This guy… gets odder and odder. Raphael nods at Alec and then leaves the room without another word.

Alec pulls off his gloves and puts them in the bin. He sits down at this desk and rubs over his eyes. “What the hell is wrong with me. Or the world at the moment?”, he muses, but before he can elaborate, Maggie comes in. The next patient is waiting for Alec.

~~~

The arrow leaves Alec’s grip in a _sush_-noise. It’s exhilarating. Alec loves it. The bow, the arrows, the whole feeling of practising archery again. He should’ve done that _ages _ago! He’s set up a target close to the tree line behind the house and is shooting arrow after arrow at it. The first few barely hit the target, but after half an hour of practising and getting back into his stance and the pose, Alec’s shooting bullseyes and near bullseyes left and right.

He feels like he’s nearly in a meditative state. Maybe Izzy was right that Alec needed to relax a little more. And after he’s done shooting a few more arrows he’ll stretch his muscles. After all, Alec doesn’t want to have sore muscles tomorrow. Then he might even take the bath that his sister spoke of. Would be nice to lay in some hot water for a while, soaking and forgetting all his problems and fears.

Alec really hopes that Luke will send over some officers. Maybe they find whoever is responsible for putting those birds on his front porch. He’s already been thinking of updating the security in and around the house. An alarm system would be a good idea. One that sends an alarm to his mobile and the police as well. After all none of his neighbours would probably hear a siren. They live too far away from him for that. Yes, an alarm system should be his next purchase.

Satisfied with his decision, Alec stops shooting arrows and goes to collect the ones he’s already shot at the target. He pulls them out of the wood when he feels eyes on the back of his head again. Alec tries not to act like he knows that someone is watching him, then he spins around as fast as he can and stares into the treeline towards his left.

Nothing, there is nothing. Maybe Alec _is _getting insane.

***

“And, what do you think of him?”

“He’s definitely a little bit paranoid. Nearly ran through that park when he saw us. Has a good stride though. Could be useful if he tries to play hunt with him.”

A scoff, then a shuffle.

“What have you got?”, a female voice wants to know.

“He doesn’t smell like the one that set up the trap.”

Another shuffle. Then a curse.

“Damn that squirrel!”

“Why don’t you just let it go, Raphael? Why do you have it even?”

“Needed an excuse to see the human. Got the squirrel from a tree. It wanted to run away from me, so I had to be a little bit more _convincing_.”

Someone laughs.

“Well, at least we now know that this human wasn’t the one who set up the trap. The Alpha will be pleased.”

Raphael is the one who laughs this time. It sounds more like a howl.

“He will be _very_ pleased. Hasn’t even met the guy for real yet and introduced himself, but already he exaggerates it with the presents.”

The other two look at each other, their shoulders are shaking. _What can we do, you know how he is!_

The three of them walk further away from the human settlement. They wait till they are far into the forest. Before they move on, the man who is not Raphael speaks again.

“We will tell the Alpha all we know, but not in front of the whole pack. There’re still several of us who would love nothing more than to use the… _information_ that we have gathered against the Alpha.”

He waits till he sees his two companions nod, then they start shifting, leaving their humanoid forms behind to run deep into the forest on four legs. They head into a specific direction. Mount Edom is right in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and your amazing support!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today: Magnus' POV.

Watching the human sleep is… oddly _satisfying_. If Magnus had known that earlier maybe he’d have payed a visit to the human settlement sooner. But maybe it was only this one human that holds his interest. And _how_ interesting he is.

Magnus observes how the human tosses and turns in his sleep. He would love to help the gorgeous creature to sleep better, but he has to be careful. Instead of opening the window from outside he stays put. The dark-haired beauty finally turns towards the window so that Magnus can see his features better. Hungrily he takes in the dark lashes that’re closed at the moment. He has elegant lips, curved upwards like the human is smiling at something. And the messy bed hair…

The werewolf has to be careful to not let out an involuntary growl. This human man is doing things to him that he can’t describe with words or thoughts. He’s glad that the moon is still full and giving him enough light to illuminate the figure on the bed. On the other hand, his night vision is pretty good thanks to his wolf eyes.

Magnus swoons a little bit longer at the human then he leaves his place next to the window and slowly makes his way back to the terrace. A dead marten lies on the night-wet grass. Magnus picks it up with his canines and walks towards the front entrance. Earlier a car with two humans has stopped in the driveway. Magnus knows enough about human customs to know that they are what people call _cops_. He doesn’t want to get involved with these _cops_, so he decided to stay hidden a little bit longer.

Now that they’re gone the wolf walks around the house like he owns the territory. Which he technically does. At least in the werewolf world. Edom mountain and its surrounding lands belong to the Bane pack and Magnus is the Alpha of said pack.

The body of the marten in his mouth is still warm. He’s caught it on the way to his human’s house. So far, his saviour hasn’t reacted to Magnus’ many gifts, but the Alpha is patient. Some potential bedding partner need extra encouragement and who is Magnus not to provide that. After all he _is _the Alpha of the Bane pack. One of the largest and most prosperous packs in Northern America.

He trots towards the front entrance of the building and puts the marten down carefully. With his snout he arranges the tail in an – in his opinion – aesthetically pleasing way before he sits down to lick the blood from his canines. For a few seconds he contemplates whether he should put a flower next to the marten like one of his betas suggested or not.

Apparently, humans like courting gifts and Magnus is completely onboard with that. Even in their world a wolf that wants to show another of their kind that they want to mate with them provides a gift. Usually they give their intended partner an animal that they’ve hunted and killed themselves to show that they’re able to provide. And that’s exactly what Magnus has been doing with his human saviour.

Maia and Jordan, two young betas from his pack have even helped Magnus with finding out human courting traditions. Due to their age they are more curious than their older pack members and often venture to the human settlement, even when it’s forbidden. The only good thing that has come from it so far is that Magnus now has two experts in human courting. It was Jordan’s idea to also leave a flower and not only the marten behind.

He’s seen it in what the human’s call a _movie_. Magnus wrinkles his snout then he stands up and trots back to the terrace at the other end of the house. There’re several flowers. He decides on one and carefully puts his mouth on the lower end of the plant, close to the earth. Slowly, he pulls the flower out of the earth.

Magnus can taste the heavy aroma of earth on his tongue, but he continues pulling. The plant resists for several moments then it finally gives in. Proud of himself and being able to provide such great courting gifts, the werewolf flounces back to the marten, tail high. His human might not have shown any indicating in accepting his gifts, but Magnus is nothing if not resourceful and persistent.

He opens his mouth and the plant falls on the marten. Wolf-grinning he steps back and looks up towards the moon. It stands higher than he thought. Magnus should head back home. His pack waits for him and he promised them that he would be back sooner than the last few days.

After being stuck in a human trap everyone had been worried. Magnus himself still can’t really figure out how it even happened. Normally, he always smells human’s miles ahead. Even if the scent is several days old as it had been on the trap. The wolf had been strolling around on his morning patrol when suddenly a loud metallic noise had startled him and not even a second late a sharp pain had spread from his left front paw and over his shoulder.

Magnus had howled loudly several times, but he hadn’t heard an answer which wasn’t even surprising. He’d taken a detour that day and strolled further away from the area that his pack frequents often. Frustrated, he’d even tried to open the trap himself. Shifting to his human form wasn’t possible while being trapped so he’d come to terms with waiting till his pack members realised that something must’ve gone wrong and came looking for him.

In the end, it weren’t his werewolves but a devastatingly handsome human male that had come to his rescue and an equally beautiful female. They’re obviously related, Magnus could not only see that but smell in in their scent as well. And not only was the male _very_ easy on the eye he’d also treated Magnus injury. Although, the wolf was still a little bit mad that he’d used a tranq arrow on him.

At least waking up to that beauty treating his injured paw had been amazing. Of course, Magnus _had to lick _that muscled arm and nice hand of the human. He knows how to say thank you the wolf way and make his intentions known, thank you very much.

The human had looked a little bit irritated, but Magnus can’t blame him. After all you don’t get your hand licked by _the_ Magnus Bane every day. Still smiling his wolf-grin, Magnus heads back into the forest and runs towards Edom Mountain. Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael, three of this pack member’s, should be back from their exploring trip in the human settlement by now. He sent them to get more information on his human saviour. And, of course, to figure out who set up that nasty trap.

Magnus doges several trees that’re in his way and springs over a little stream. His thoughts settle back on that trap. It’s not the first one he’s seen in his life, but it’s been a long time since someone put them somewhere so close to the Bane pack’s territory.

He hopes that it’s just one dumb human who wanted to see if he can catch something of interest and that there won’t be any more of them, but you can never be sure. Magnus isn’t an idiot. He takes the trap very serious. He isn’t pack Alpha just because he’s the son of Asmodeus Bane, his late-father and Alpha before him.

His mind is still spinning when Magnus arrives on pack ground and lets out a low howl to tell his pack members that he’s back. Several of them come out of their caves to greet him. The Bane pack has around forty members of all ages. Not all of them are here at the moment. Several are on night patrol to make sure that the humans stay away from their grounds and no rogue wolf or enemy pack can attack them without someone in Magnus’ pack reporting them in first.

Magnus greets all his friends with nuzzling his snout against theirs, several playful neck bites for the young wolfs and a more or less respectful lowering of his neck towards Lorenzo Rey. The guy’s been after Magnus’ position as pack leader from the start. His father’s body hasn’t even been cold yet and already Lorenzo had tried to issue a change in leadership.

It had been more satisfying than it should have been for Magnus to show him his place. Even after thoroughly defeating Rey, the other wolf is still nagging and moaning about Magnus behind his back. He’s waiting for the right time to issue another fight for the position of pack Alpha, Magnus knows that. But as long as Lorenzo does his share in the pack, he can’t do anything against the little snake. Rey is clever, Magnus gives him that much.

As he predicted, Catarina, Ragnor and Raphael are already back from their trip. Magnus greets them as well before leaving the main area of the pack and walking towards a more secluded cave. The three follow him without a word.

Magnus checks that no one has followed them, then he sits down next to Catarina. They could shift into their human bodies, but even in wolf form they can communicate with each other through their minds. _“Did you learn anything new?”,_ Magnus asks his betas. He sees the way that they look at each other before Ragnor answers.

_“Your… _human_ doesn’t seem to have anything to do with setting up the trap. Like you said. He’s what the humans call a veterinarian and cares for injured animals. Treating you wasn’t an exception, it’s his job”,_ the other wolf says, and Magnus has to fight back some jealousy. His gorgeous human touches others besides him!?

_“Does he also treat other wolfs? He didn’t seem to know what I am when he treated me”_, he says instead of showing his true feelings after hearing Ragnor’s words.

This time it’s Raphael who answers. _“He doesn’t smell like others of our kind and I don’t think that he has any idea of what is going on. Although, he seems to be a bit… _paranoid_. I used an injured squirrel to get access to his place of work. Besides him there is another human male and two females that work there. His name is Alec Lightwood, by the way. Thought you would like to know that”_, Raphael reports and Magnus grins.

Oh yes, he likes to know that a whole lot! _“Alec, is that short for Alexander?”_, Magnus musses. Catarina growls at him.

_“That’s not the most important thing at the moment!”_, she scolds him. _“Fact is, he’s not responsible for setting up the traps which is good. Nevertheless, you should keep your distance, Magnus. No interfering in human affairs. We keep our distance, they keep theirs. That’s how it’s been for centuries and we should keep it that way.”_

Magnus grumbles to himself. Before he can argue with her, they all look up towards the cave’s entrance. Someone’s coming their way. Of course, it’s Lorenzo _fucking_ Rey. _“Alpha”,_ he says, and Magnus can hear the lack of respect in his voice, _“the elders wish to speak to you.”_

They end their little circle and Magnus stands up to go and meet the pack elders. His argument with Catarina has to wait for another time. One thing is sure though, he’s not giving up his human. _Alec._

***

The next day, Magnus is walking through the human settlement in clothes that he, Jordan and Maia found among the stuff that the pack keeps at the ready whenever one of them needs to pay the humans a visit. He strolls through the streets on two legs, which always takes a little time to get used to.

Magnus is on a mission. He wants to see and talk to his human saviour, Alec, today. He’s waited long enough. Before arriving in Idris, as the human’s call their town, he made a detour to Alec’ house. The marten and the flower were gone, heedlessly thrown away into the forest. Apparently, his presents aren’t appreciated. Maybe Magnus should go for something bigger, a deer perhaps.

Humans are difficult to impress; he knows that now. He wants to figure out what kind of type his Alec is, so he took a page from Raphael’s book and obtained a squirrel. It’s not injured though; Magnus hopes that won’t be a problem.

He’s in front of the building that Raphael described to him when two men walk out and one of them nearly runs into him. He’s bald and looks like he’s just eaten something that’s been dead too long. Magnus breathes in deeply on reflex to find out their mood through their scents and stops. There is something in that bald man’s scent that is familiar to him, but Magnus can’t put his paw on it. He only knows that it makes his hackles rise.

Shaking his head, he decides to think about that later. _After_ surprising his Alec and talking to him in person for the first time. He puts his game face back on and is ready to go.

Magnus strolls through the entrance of Alec’s place of work and smiles charmingly at the young lady behind a desk. “Hello gorgeous, is Alec here? I’ve heard he’s an expert in helping poor little squirrels. I’ve found this one in the park and something just doesn’t seem to be right with it”, he says in the most enchanting way possible.

The eyes of the woman in front of him widen when she takes him and Magnus’ smile grows. He knows that he looks gorgeous. After sorting through their boxes of human clothes, Jordan, Maia and Magnus have decided on a skin tight black jeans, a loose burgundy red shirt that is open till his navel and Magnus decided to top it with several gold necklaces and rings in his ears and on his fingers. He looks _breath-taking_.

The lady nods and motions him to follow her. Magnus can’t believe his luck. He thought that he might has to wait till he can see his Alec. Must be his charm and looks. Nodding gracefully, he thanks the lady and walks through the door she holds open for him. And then he can finally see him again. His _Alec_, the saviour.

The dark-haired angel sits on a chair in front of a large desk, his brows are furrowed as if he’s concentrating on something. Magnus decided to focus on the pen that is stuck in mister handsome’s mouth and imagines something else there. Then, hazel eyes land on him and Magnus’ breath hitches. _So hot!_

Alec blinks when he sees him and then his eyes rake him up and down. Magnus smirks. ‘_Oh, hello boy!_’, he thinks. “Uh, hello. How… How can I help you?”, Alec stutters and the wolf in Magnus swoons. Oh yes, this one is worth every dead bird and marten that Magnus had to hunt for him. Every single one!

“Hello _darling!_”, Magnus says and smiles at the human. “I’ve heard you are the right human to consult with injured squirrels.” Alec’s eyebrows lift at Magnus’ words. Then his eyes land on the squirming squirrel in his hands.

“Another one!?”, the human exclaims and Magnus wonders for a second if maybe he shouldn’t have killed yesterdays marten but brought it here instead. But then, he doesn’t want the human to look at others the way he looks at the squirrel in his arms. He should only look at Magnus like that.

Alec stands up and reaches for the squirrel and Magnus gives it to him, but not before he holds his hand a little bit longer than strictly necessary. The human looks up at that and Magnus sees how his pupils widen. So, he is not alone in finding the other one attractive then. Alec licks his lips and starts focusing on the squirrel.

“Looks fine to me”, he mumbles and Magnus watches what the human is doing. It looks a lot like the stuff he did while Magnus was still drowsy form that tranq arrow.

“So, tell me, _Alec_. What is a gorgeous human like you doing here?”, Magnus asks and then, to show how much he understands human courting traditions, he adds: “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” Alec seems to freeze at that and Magnus counts it as a win. _“Gotcha!”, _he thinks and congratulates Maia for digging out those old _Girl’s Life_ magazines along the clothes. He’s got this human at the hook like a pro!

The human’s mouth hangs open while he looks at him, squirrel momentarily forgotten. “Uhm… Uhm”, he mumbles. Magnus winks at him and blatantly checks him out.

Alec blinks, then he puts the squirrel into a cage at the other end of the room. “Uhm… I’ll- I’ll observe the squirrel for a day or two, that’s the second one someone brought in in as many days”, he says and tries to keep his eyes from Magnus’.

The Alpha sees the exact moment, when the human’s eyes land on something that they shouldn’t have. “Oh, you’re injured as well!”, he exclaims and takes a step closer. Before Magnus can react, Alec already has his left arm in his hands. “Do you want me to take a look at that?”, the human asks innocently and Magnus curses himself.

_The damn wound from the trap!_


	5. Chapter 4

Alexander Gideon Lightwood is having a stressful day. And with stressful he actually means _horrible_. First of he slept so bad that he’s not even sure if he even managed to enter Morpheus dreamland for more than half an hour before he tossed around on the bed again. Even the most familiar noises of his house were enough to wake Alec.

To top his shitty night, another dead animal was on his doorstep the next morning. This time it’s a marten and not only that – a whole plant, including roots and dirt – was lying on top of it. Alec checked his little flower bed at his terrace and of courses there’s a whole area destroyed. He even thinks that there are paw traces from a dog, but why would his wannabe killer bring a dog?

At least this time Alec took some pictures of the dead marten and the flower and sent them to Luke. He’s still waiting for a reply by the way. The marten and flower ended like the rest of the dead animals: thrown into the forest.

Not even going to work helped to brighten Alec’s mood. Shortly before he wants to have his lunch break his father and his business partner Valentine Morgenstern showed up in his office. Alec doesn’t like the other guy, he’s edgy and always grim looking. That they want his help in securing their construction project is the icing on the cake. Alec threw them out gladly.

“What a shitty day”, he mumbles to himself and shuts down his computer. His lunch break is now shorter than it already is thanks to his father and his friend. Grumbling to himself, Alec sits behind his desk and thinks about calling his mother and discussing what Robert said with her. Before he can actually decide on that his office door opens and a literal god walks in.

The man smiles at him as if he just won a million-dollar jackpot. He’s tall, nearly as tall as Alec, has breath-taking features and wears skin-tight clothes. Alec doesn’t know a thing about fashion, but damn that guy looks hotter than hot. “Uh, hello. How… How can I help you?”, Alec stutters and feels his ears burning red.

The hot guy calls him _darling_ in a way that makes Alec’s toes curl and he nearly forgets to listen to what he says to him. Then Alec’s eyes land on the squirrel in the hot guy’s hands and he sighs. “Another one?”, Alec exclaims and takes the squirrel and examines it carefully. It looks healthy, no bruises.

Hot guy is still talking to him, though. “So, tell me, _Alec_. What is a gorgeous human like you doing here? Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” Alec freezes at that. _Who the fuck is that guy?_ He just did a backstep from hot as hell to hot weirdo in Alec’s opinion and he doesn’t know what to do with that. Is it possible that the guy is… flirting with him?

Alec realises that his mouth hangs open, but he just can’t seem to be able to close it. “Uhm… Uhm”, he mumbles, not really sure how to answer. Izzy and Jace would laugh at him if they could see him right now. It’s been a while since Alec _did something_ so he feels a little bit unsure how to answer the guy’s blatant flirting. And he’s definitely checking Alec out, now that he focuses more on him than the squirming squirrel in his hands.

Alec blinks, then he puts the squirrel into a cage at the other end of the room. “Uhm… I’ll- I’ll observe the squirrel for a day or two, that’s the second one someone brought in in as many days”, he says and tries to keep his eyes from the guy. But then he catches something on the guy that directly brings him back to his vet-mode like Andrew and Maggie call it sometimes.

“Oh, you’re injured as well!”, he exclaims and takes a step closer. “Do you want me to take a look at that?”, he askes and starts examining the wound on the other man’s arm. It looks like a contusion and several puncture wounds that already started to heal. The pattern of the puncture wounds is a little bit off, but Alec puts that at the back of his mind for the time being.

“S- Sure”, the man says, and Alec looks up into his eyes. _Wow, he has pretty eyes!_ Only now does he realise that he didn’t even wait for the man to answer his question. Blood pumps into Alec’s face. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have touched you like that.”, he exclaims and takes a step back. A firm grip on his left arm makes him stop.

“No, stay. Don’t worry, I was just… a little bit surprised, nothing more. I mean who wouldn’t want such a gorgeous creature like yourself taking care of their injury?”, the guy says and yes, back to hot weirdo. Alec smiles a little bit, then he grabs a gauze and disinfectant. While he cleans the wound, the other man continues talking as if nothing happened. “So, is Alec short for something? Alexander maybe?”, he asks.

Alec nods. “Yes, but most people call me Alec. What did you do by the way, that looks very painful”, he adds. He concentrates so much on his work that he doesn’t notice the rather long break between his question and the man’s answer.

“A truly beautiful name and so fitting. I’m Magus, by the way. Magnus Bane”, he says, and Alec stores the name in the back of his mind. _‘Magnus’,_ he thinks, _‘it suits him.’_

He’s a little bit clumsy while he puts some healing salve on the wound and wraps a bandage around Magnus’ arm. An unexpected sound breaks Alec’s concentration. It sounds like… sniffing! His eyes shoot up. Magnus must have lowered his head while Alec wasn’t paying attention because the guy’s nose is maybe millimetres away from Alec’s hairline. And he really _is _sniffing Alec.

“Uhm”, he says, not knowing how to act. He feels irritated by the guy but also _very_ attracted to him. It’s been a while since Alec looked at another man twice. Idris doesn’t get too many visitors and none of the people who live here attract his attention. When he met Andrew, he kind of hoped that something might come out of it, but they’re both not each other’s types.

Being so blatantly checked out and now _sniffed at_ by this guy sends Alec too many mixed signals. On one hand, he’s definitely interested because let’s face it, the guy is as hot as they get, but on the other, there is something _wrong_ with him. The way he holds himself, talks and even his clothes don’t add up. They remind him a lot of the strange man from yesterday. He also had a squirrel…

Alec blinks. Magnus’ lips curl into a breath-taking smile and Alec feels like he’s melting into a puddle on the floor. “You are _absolutely gorgeous_, honey”, Magnus says in a deep tone.

_‘Words, what are words!?’_, Alec thinks and tries to come up with something to say. His brain seems to be non-functional though, so he just nods like an idiot and lets go of Magnus’ arm. “Uhm… You should- Ehm, keep the bandage on for two to three more days and… No exercising! And maybe go and see a doctor as well”, he stutters out. Alec walks back towards his desk and nearly stumbles when he turns back around and Magnus is standing directly in front of him.

When did he even move? Alec hasn’t heard a thing! He is so close to him, that Alec can count the freckles on his face. Magnus has a goatee and Alec wonders if it scratches when someone kisses him… He blinks several times in quick succession to ban _those_ thoughts from his mind.

“Can’t you look after it again?”, Magnus basically purrs and looks at Alec through his lowered eyelashes. _Abort, abort mission!_

“Uhhhh”, Alec says, face still red as a tomato. “I… I’m not that kind of doctor, you see. I’m a veterinarian, not a general practitioner.” Magnus basically pouts when he hears that. Out of nowhere his right hand touches and straightens Alec’s collar. Alec swallows hard.

“But you take _such good care_ of me”, he says. “I don’t think that some other human doctor would do as well as you do.” Magnus takes a step closer even though that shouldn’t be possible. Their bodies are already touching each other.

Alec gets saved from answering by his office door being pushed open without warning. In the first moment, he sighs in relief until he sees the person that just stepped into his office. It’s his father. And he doesn’t look happy about what he sees in front of him. Thankfully Magnus takes a step back, but not before touching Alec’s collar one more time.

Clearing his throat, Alec straightens his body. “Father”, he says. Then he focusses back on Magnus. “Thank you for bringing the squirrel today. As I said, I’ll take care of it. Have a nice day.” Magnus seems to hesitate for a second, but then he nods and leaves the room. When he walks past Robert, he falters in his steps for such a short while that Alec isn’t sure whether he imagined it or not.

As soon as Magnus has left, Robert opens his mouth. “Is this how you spend your breaks? No wonder that you don’t have time to listen to what I have to propose when you’re so busy with _that man_”, his father accuses him. For a second, Alec is speechless. He feels transported back into his teenager years when he still hungered for his father’s approval. Thankfully, he’s not looking for that anymore.

“What do you want?”, he asks, ignoring his father’s comment about Magnus Bane. Robert steps fully into the room. Alec holds his ground. He’s given his father enough over the years, he won’t lose one step that he had to fight for taking forwards.

“I want to have breakfast with you to continue our conversation from earlier”, Robert says. Alec shakes his head.

“I have no interest in having breakfast with you or your business partner to be honest. And I also have no wish whatsoever to help you with your construction plans. Mount Edom and the surrounding area is part of a protected area and it will stay that way. You won’t be allowed to build a ski resort and hotels there”, Alec says sharply.

His father sighs. “Oh Alec, why are you so naïve? Only because you don’t want something to happen doesn’t mean that it won’t happen anyway.”

Alec bites his teeth together to hold back from lashing out at his father. He knows he’s not naïve. He just stands for what is right. “Why are you here then? You know my opinion on your project, you know mum’s and Izzy’s opinion. And even Max doesn’t like it. So, why are you here? Because you won’t be able to convince me otherwise”, Alec grits out.

Robert looks at him for several seconds before he answers. “Maybe I just wanted to have breakfast with my son.” Alec chuckles unbelieving. How dare Robert to just say something like that and so carelessly. As if he doesn’t know for how long Alec has longed for his father’s approval.

“Go away, Robert. We have nothing more to talk about”, he says with an edge in his voice that tells his father that Alec is done with him for the day. Maybe even several days. Or weeks.

Robert nods defeated. “If you wish so. It’s a shame that won’t be able to make it. Hodge is arriving in town tomorrow and I know that you always used to talk to him about archery”, he says.

Alec has to fight to hold back an angry growl. His father knows that Alec liked Hodge. Sometimes he’s more like a father towards Alec than Robert ever was. But he also hasn’t seen Hodge in over seven years so he doesn’t take the bait to trip him into going to the breakfast meeting only to see a man he doesn’t have anything to do with anymore.

“Then have fun having breakfast together. I won’t be there. If you’ll excuse me now, I think I still have a few minutes of my break left and I would actually like to eat something before my next patient arrives”, Alec says and holds the door open for Robert. His father doesn’t even look at him when he leaves.

Alec is glad when he is finally alone in his office. His day just got from bad to worse. Which god did he anger to attract so much bad luck lately!?

Another knock on his door nearly makes Alec scream. Luckily, it’s Andrew. And he’s a bag of food with him. “Hey”, he says slowly, looking around the office as if he’s testing whether the air is clear. “Heard you had some company and decided to bring you something from Takis.”

“Oh, thank the angel!”, Alec exclaims and makes grabby hands. Andrew chuckles, but he gives him the bag without protest. It’s Alec’s favourite. He knows why Andrew is one of his best friends.

“So”, Andrew starts. “You want to tell me what that was all about?” Sitting opposite of Alec, he leans back in a chair and observes his colleague.

Alec sighs. “My father wants my help with his damn construction project”, he mumbles between two bites. “You remember, the hotel complex stuff on and around Edom Mountain? I’ve no idea why he thinks that _I_ of all people would help him! It’s not like we have a good relationship to begin with.”

Andrew nods. “And who was the other guy he first came in with?”, he wants to know. Andrew had left for his lunch break just when Robert and Valentine came in to speak with Alec. Maybe Alec should tell Maggie that the next time his father or his colleague shows up she should just tell them that he either isn’t there or definitely not available.

“Valentine Morgenstern, my father’s business partner. He’s financing most of Robert’s projects and oversees them. I don’t trust the guy, he’s got something edgy about him that makes me uncomfortable”, he admits.

“And the other guy?”, Andrew asks.

Alec halts his hand in moving the fork filled with food towards his mouth. “What other guy?” Andrew looks at him for a second, then he smiles.

“The guy in those designer clothes, I think it was Saint Laurent of something like that. Red blouse, skin-tight trousers, dark hair and quite fit. Obviously your type. Maggie told me about him.” To emphasise his point, Andrew wiggles his eyebrows.

Alec gets red in the face again. “Oh. Magnus Bane. He brought another squirrel”, he says slowly. Andrew laughs for a second before he gets control over himself again.

“That’s two squirrels in two days! What’s going on with them? Are they having a secret party?”, he chuckles. Alec smiles. Then he concentrates on his food. Andrew thankfully changes the topic towards hiring another assistant.

Alec’s not really listening though. His mind keeps replaying his encounter with Magnus Bane. The man definitely is a vision. Normally Alec doesn’t wish for things to happen, but he can’t stop himself from hoping that he does see the hot weirdo again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is again in Magnus POV.   
Tell me how you liked this one ;)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys, I was sick for a while. Enjoy the new chapter, I hope you like it!

As soon as Magnus leaves the vet clinic, he hurries towards the end of the city where he hides to get out of his human clothes. For exactly this purpose he had left a small bag under some bushes. Magnus is worried. After Alexander – _what a beautiful name, absolutely fitting for such an astonishing creature _– had gotten a visitor, Magnus hadn’t left the building. He’s a clever wolf, so Magnus hovered behind the closed door.

He’s glad he did, otherwise he might never have heard what the two of them had said. Alexander’s father, the other man, wanted to build houses on and around Edom Mountain. And a _ski resort_! This is unbelievable! Magnus is growling to himself while he pushes and shoves the clothes into the bag. Finally, everything is where it belongs, and he looks around carefully before he shifts into his wolf form.

He pushes the bag around a little bit before he puts his paws through the straps and moves around a little bit. Fortunately, the bag isn’t heavy, so it isn’t a burden on his back when he starts running towards his pack. Magnus has to tell them about the latest developments.

None of them will be pleased. Magnus barks displeased. Why can nothing be simple for once? He likes the human, his _Alexander_, he wants to court him, but of course, then everything has to get difficult. Calculating in his head, Magnus already knows that he won’t have time to go on a proper hunt tonight. The deer will have to wait, Magnus will gift it to his human another time.

But what a vision this man is! Dark brown eyes, black hair… Magnus likes them tall as well and Alexander is even a few centimetres taller than him.

Magus uses the run to the pack grounds to recap what he heard of the discussion between father and son. There are more humans involved in building something on Edom Mountain. From what he heard Alexander is strictly against the plans. The wolf is glad for that. He doesn’t know what he would do if the beautiful human would suddenly have to be removed to guaranty the safety of Magnus’ pack.

It wouldn’t be the first time that they had to interfere with humans for the pack to stay hidden and protected. Magnus remembers only one incident when he was still a little cub. A man and his son had tried to hunt the wolves. Asmodeus had set an end to it. Magnus can’t remember what happened to the two humans, he was still too young when it happened.

He slows down a little bit when he gets closer to the border. Magnus howls lowly so that the wolves on patrol know that he’s passing through. An answering howl sounds from his left. It’s Dot, he sends her a short thought in greeting and feels her mental brush when she welcomes him home.

Magnus trots directly to the cave where the pack keeps their human clothing and other useful stuff. Maia is there and grins at him when she sees him arrive. _“Hello Alpha, were you successful?”,_ she asks and bows her head a little and shows the left side of her neck.

_“Yes… and no. Please be a dear and tell everyone that we’ll have a pack meeting when the sun sets. I have some important matters that we need to discuss”, _he tells her. Maia sends him an affirmative thought and strolls away to find the other pack members to distribute the message form their Alpha.

Shifting back to his human form, Magnus opens the bag and puts the clothes back where they belong. He stretches afterwards, it’s always strange to spend some time on two legs. He decides to walk back to his own cave in his current form.

Some of his pack members are in their wolf bodies, others use their human forms to be able to handle some tasks better. Magnus prefers to be on four legs, but if he wants to see and interact with his human again, he should get used to walking around like the town people.

The Bane pack is prospering around him. Magnus sees Ragnor playing with some cubs, his old friend lying on the ground and the little ones crawling all over him. Catarina is overseeing the reparation of a cave that was damaged during the last storm. All around him is his family and Magnus’ heart swells. He would do everything to make sure that they’re safe.

Several of the pack members lower their heads at him in greeting and he returns it in kind. Magnus walks straight towards his cave. It’s one of the nicest ones that they have. Before he enters, he stretches back into his wolf body and sniffs around the entrance for a few seconds. He always does that, a habit he adopted from his father.

There’re no new or strange smells so he jumps up and through the entrance. Magnus is glad that the entrance of the cave is not on the ground level. Otherwise, he would get wet paws every time that it rains a little bit heavier. The cave itself is not that big, but very cosy and it has a warm, welcoming charm that Magnus loves.

A little fire burns on one side to keep the cave warm and several furs on the other make up his pallet. Over the years he’s decorated the walls with things that he either found in the woods, got as a gift from visiting packs or accumulated from the younger wolves.

After putting some wood on the fireplace, Magnus lies down on his pallet and stares into the flames. He wants to put his thoughts into order before he tells his pack what he learned today during his visit to the human settlement. He already knows that no matter what he says, a few of his pack members will want to take serious measures against the humans.

Magnus wants to find out more about this project first and the best way to do just that is to get closer to Alexander. Which he wants to do anyway. The only problem is that his more observing wolves know that as well and not all of them like it that Magnus wants to court a human of all creatures. Especially when they hear that said human’s father wants to build a ski resort on their territory.

Sighing, the wolf puts his snout onto his two front paws. He’s not the most convincing wolf, he knows that. Catarina or Raphael could argue his case way better than he can, he knows that. But he is the Alpha so it’s his task to tell his pack what the right thing to do is.

Magnus thoughts shift away from the question of how to plead his case towards his pack in the best way. Instead, he thinks back to before he and Alexander were so rudely interrupted by the human’s father. His Alexander blushes a lot. Especially when Magnus lets his eyes wander over the other's body.

The wolf enjoyed teasing the human. He could hear his blood pumping faster in his body, could smell how his scent changed just ever so slightly. Unfortunately, humans can’t communicate as well with their scents and pheromones as wolves can, but during high-stress situations and similar circumstances where a lot of hormones are released, Magnus can pick up on the change. And Alexander had reacted towards Magnus’ flirting. So, the human was interested, that was good.

***

The whole pack is in unrest when Magnus tells them what he learned during his visit to the human town. _“What shall we do?” “We can’t just let them claim out home!” “This can’t be happening!”_ Magnus hears. He agrees with their thoughts. Others growl threateningly and the Alpha sits up straight.

Lorenzo stands up from his place to the left and moves towards the middle of the meeting. Pack meetings are always held in a circle so that whoever wants to bring something forwards can be seen by everyone attending. Magnus doesn’t like how Lorenzo is moving, his shoulders up high, his fur standing up and the corners of his mouth pushed back to let a near-feral growl pass his lips.

_“This is not the first time that humans have threatened us. We must put an end to this, once and for all! This is our pack ground, we can not allow it to be taken from us”,_ he rants, and many agree with him. Magnus inclines his head, showing Lorenzo that he is allowed to continue. Catarina, who is sitting next to him, shifts closer to Magnus. They are both warry of what Lorenzo will say next.

The other wolf doesn’t disappoint them. _“Too long have we allowed humans to take more and more of our lands. They put us in what they call reserves and then come back to stare at us as if we’re an attraction. I say no more!”,_ he howls.

More and more voices tone in with Lorenzo. So far, he hasn’t said anything that Magnus can counteract. He isn’t sure yet what Lorenzo will propose, but Magnus already knows that he won’t like it. Lorenzo is extreme in his thoughts, often enough he only sees black and white but nothing in between. Such thoughts are dangerous, Magnus knows that from experience.

_“I say let’s teach those humans a lesson. Let them know that we won’t stand for their exploitation. We won’t allow them to take our home from us!”, _Lorenzo continues. When he proposes to hunt them down, one after the other, Magnus has had enough.

He lets out a loud, deep roar and everyone stills immediately. Lorenzo jumps back to face Magnus. The Alpha stands up and walks closer to the beta. He doesn’t growl as Lorenzo did earlier. Magnus knows that he doesn’t need to do that.

_“You want to hunt humans? Rip out their throats, hunt their young first to get to the older ones?”, _he asks. Lorenzo steps back slowly as Magnus gets closer and closer. After he pushes Lorenzo back to his original place in the circle, Magnus addresses his whole pack. _“Have you all learned nothing from the past?”,_ he wants to know. _“We will not attack the humans unless self-defence justifies it. The humans _must not _know of our existence. Our lives and those of all the other packs rely on this secrete being kept a secret. If we start to attack the humans they will send their hunters to go after us._

_They will not rest until they have wiped us all out. It is the law of all packs to guaranty the safety of our kind. No one, _no one_ will go after the humans, do I make myself clear!? I will take care of the matter. A small council will be selected to keep an eye on the developments and get more information. When we know more we will meet again to decide what to do against this threat.”_

Magnus waits several seconds and looks into the eyes of his pack members until they lower their heads to show their agreement. He nearly has to stare down Lorenzo, but in the end, the other wolf lowers his gaze. Satisfied, the wolf steps back towards his place and lets the meeting continue. A few wolves bring some issues forward and the pack discusses those as well.

For the rest of the night, the looming threat of the humans hangs over the pack. Magnus knows that most of his pack members won’t have a restful sleep ahead of them. He himself is unsure whether he’ll be able to fall asleep that night. The moon is high on the night sky when the meeting finishes. Everyone leaves the circle to get back to their caves.

The Alpha trots next to Ragnor and Catarina for a while, deep in thought. _“No gift for your human tonight?”,_ Ragnor asks. Magnus sighs. _“It doesn’t feel right to leave the pack alone tonight. A lot has been said and I have many things to think about”,_ he answers.

Catarina nudges him into the ribs. _“Go. Get some rest. Tomorrow the sun will shine again and your head will be clear of all that’s clouding your mind at the moment.”_ Magnus nods and says goodnight to his friends. The fire is nearly out when he enters his cave. He’s too lazy to shift into his human form to put some wood on the fire so he rolls two pieces over with the help of his legs and head.

When he lies down on the furs, Magnus is surprised with how tired he is. Sleep claims him easily, but not without one last thought of his human. _Alexander._

***

Magnus wakes up before the sunrise. He blinks a few times to shoo the last remnants of sleep away from his eyes. Then he stretches his body and yawns. Catarina was right, he does feel better. But now he also wants to continue his courting gifts. He nearly feels bad about it. Magnus’ pack needs him, he knows that, but he still can’t get the human out of his head.

On the other hand, Magnus could put his courting gift on the doorstep of Alexander and then wait for the human to leave for work. Then he could enter his house and see if he can find some information about the human’s father and his plans. Satisfied with his idea, Magnus gets up and leaves his cave. No one else seems to be up yet so he walks slowly to not wake anyone.

When he left the immediate pack area behind himself, Magnus starts to trot and then run towards his human’s house. On the way, he thankfully manages to catch a blackbird. He’s already late when he arrives at the house and to Magnus’ dismay, Alexander is already awake. The Alpha can hear him talking to someone. Carefully, Magnus creeps closer.

The kitchen window is open. Magnus can hear Alexander’s voice. He peeks up a little bit and sees the human holding a small box towards his ear. Then he concentrates on what Alexander says. “… I swear to you Izzy, this is nearly worse. What if this is stage two in the psycho’s plan!?”

He sounds very upset, Magnus realises. It’s quiet for a few seconds, then Alexander continues. “No, I already called Luke, he said to me that I shouldn’t panic and that maybe whoever was behind those dead animals has lost interest.”

Magnus stills. So Alexander misses his courting gifts!? Damn, he knew he was too late to make it today. Just when he wants to walk towards the front door to put his present down for Alexander to find when he opens the door, the human continues.

“Of course I’m glad that there isn’t another bird or whatever on my porch, but Izzy, I’m worried. What if whoever does this wants to hurt me now? Like, you know, they are done with killing animals and now it’s my turn!”, the human nearly screeches.

The Alpha stops in his track. So… His human does not want his courting gifts? Does he think that Magnus wants to hurt him? Oh. Oh no! Maybe, just maybe Magnus should have done more research about human courting. He listens a little bit more to Alexander’s conversation with this Izzy. Yes, he definitely should not have listened to the packs youngest. With that in mind, Magnus opens his mouth and the dead blackbird falls to the ground.

The wolf crawls backwards a little bit to be able to hide in the shadows of the trees. He watches Alexander putting the little box away and closing the window. When he leaves the house, the human looks nearly frightened when he checks his surroundings before hurrying to get into his car.

Magnus waits several minutes before he walks back towards the house. He shifts into his human form and tries the door handle. It moves, but the door doesn’t open. _“Oh right, they have locks on their doors”_, he remembers. “Well, how am I going to get in then?”, Magnus asks himself. He thinks about it for several minutes.

He decides to scout the house from the outside first. It’s not the first time Magnus does that. After all, he’s come here for every night since he met Alexander, but this time he has a purpose other than just watching the sleeping beauty.

He doesn’t find an easy way in which frustrates Magnus at least a little bit. When the grass under his feet is no longer wet from the night he shifts back and runs to his pack. He needs to set up the small council today. Maybe one of his friends has an idea on how to get into his human’s house. And of course, he needs to do more research. Now that Magnus knows that Alexander doesn’t appreciate his gifts, he wants to give the human something that is custom for his people.


End file.
